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Contact: Jeff MurphyWARRENSBURG, MO (Sept. 26, 2013) – Approval of a grant initiative that waives nonresident fees for undergraduate and graduate students in states contiguous to Missouri and a lease agreement to obtain two airplanes were among action items approved by the University of Central Missouri Board of Governors when it met Sept. 20. The board also approved a new degree program to help prepare elementary school mathematics specialists.

Called the Choose Red Grant for Students from Contiguous States, this initiative allows students from states surrounding Missouri to attend UCM at the same undergraduate and graduate tuition rate as students from Missouri. Effective for the fall 2014 semester, it applies to new students who are fully admitted to the university from the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. The grant will only be available to new students who begin their studies at UCM next fall.

Board action followed a presentation by Rick Sluder, vice president for enrollment management, and Deborah Curtis, provost and chief learning officer. They noted that in recent years several regional public universities in Missouri have offered out-of-state tuition waivers to students from surrounding states, which has sometimes posed a disadvantage for UCM in terms of out-of-state recruitment. UCM currently offers the Kansas Grant, waiving nonresident fees for students who attend UCM from selected Kansas counties. About 300 students received Kansas Grants in 2012, and the same year, there were 469 students attending UCM from contiguous states.

Following a presentation by Tony Monetti, assistant dean of aviation and executive director of the Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport, the board authorized entering into a one-year lease agreement for two Cessna 172S or equivalent aircraft with Christiansen Aviation, Inc., Tulsa, Okla. The base monthly cost for the two training aircraft will be $6,000 for a total annual cost of $72,000. UCM has the option to renew for four additional one-year periods. The monthly lease agreement includes up to 40 flight hours per aircraft.

Monetti said the airplanes are needed to help accommodate growth in the aviation program, which this fall is experiencing a 31 percent increase in enrollment. The aircraft are also needed to help the university with planned maintenance on the current fleet, which includes 12 Cessna aircraft.

Also on the agenda was the approval of the new Master of Science in Elementary Education, Elementary Mathematics Specialist degree to be housed in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education in the College of Education. The degree program was developed through the collaborative efforts of the department and the department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, which both offer some of the courses required for the degree. Students who complete the degree will be certified and prepared to fill a variety of roles including mathematics instructional coaches, mathematics resource teachers, providers of mathematics professional development, and grade level mathematics specialists.